Chapter 18: The Secret Treasure of the Study
Stopping before the bedroom door, Su Xiao looked at the two metal doors in front of him and realized he seemed to have skipped quite a few mission steps again.
The reason for this was that on the bedroom door ahead, there was a lock plate identical to that of the Watcher's Tower, even the structure of each locking ring was the same. Without a doubt, both lock plates were crafted by the Mechanical Maker.
The good news was that this lock plate only had three rings, unlike the astonishing thirty rings on the top floor of the Watcher's Tower, and each ring's category was different.
The three rings before him were all composed of secret patterns. With no clues and no corresponding key to insert into the center of the lock plate, turning the rings was impossible. Su Xiao took out the Mysterious Eye, intending to test whether this masterpiece of the Alchemical Civilization could undo the Mechanical Maker's meticulous setup.
As for using the Master Key to open the door, he had some respect for the Mechanical Maker's creations, so he wouldn't use it, lest he fail to kick the door open and end up with numb feet.
Adjusting the Mysterious Eye's mode, Su Xiao attached it to the center of the lock plate. A precise mechanical tentacle extended from the Mysterious Eye, first entering the keyhole. After changing combinations several times, with a click, the keyhole was done. Then three mechanical tentacles each attached to a ring of the lock plate, spinning them at a dizzying speed.
Time passed minute by minute. After waiting over twenty minutes, Su Xiao heard a crisp click. The three rings of the lock plate retracted, and the engraved marks on them formed a circular imprint. The bedroom door opened a crack.
[Tip: You have opened the City Lord's Wife's Bedroom.]
[You have not completed the Side Mission: The Dark Blood City Lord's Relic (Total of Three Rings).]
[You have not completed the Side Mission: The Secret of Crimson (Total of Four Rings).]
[You have not completed the Side Mission: The Maker's Secret Lock (Total of Two Rings).]
[You have triggered the final mission of this area: City Lord's Study.]
[Due to this mission, you have become a temporary teammate with the Apocalypse Paradise · Magic Soul Squad.]
[Detected that your temporary teammate, the Apocalypse Paradise · Magic Soul Squad, is too far from you and will not share this mission.]
[If your temporary teammate, the Magic Soul Squad, does not arrive at your location before the City Lord's Wife's Bedroom within 1 hour, it will be considered an automatic abandonment of the mission.]
[Due to this requirement, it has severely exceeded the limits of the four members of the Magic Soul Squad. Judging...]
[Judgment complete. The Magic Soul Squad has voluntarily abandoned this mission. Your temporary teammate relationship with the Magic Soul Squad is dissolved. Because your location is more suitable for completing this mission, you will receive the accumulated mission progress of the Magic Soul Squad. After the Side Mission: City Lord's Study is completed, the progress will be settled as your mission reward.]
...
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao roughly understood what was happening. This Extremely Dark Castle was a large dungeon. Just entering it required completing three side missions, totaling nine rings.
Side Mission 1: The Dark Blood City Lord's Relic.
Side Mission 2: The Secret of Crimson.
Side Mission 3: The Maker's Secret Lock.
First, regarding the mission "The Dark Blood City Lord's Relic," if he guessed correctly, it required obtaining a certain initial mission item. The location for obtaining this item was most likely Black Iron City. After obtaining this mission item, the next step was to contact the City Lord's Manor in Black Iron City.
As the mission progressed step by step, by the final ring of this side mission, the current City Lord would be met. The current City Lord would explain the origin of this relic and the story of the Dark Blood City Lord, thus involving the Crimson Invasion.
Following the clues given by the current City Lord, the next step was to find someone who knew about this matter. That informant might be a surviving close relative of the Dark Blood City Lord or a knowledgeable person from the surrounding towns. After negotiating with this "Mission NPC," they would obtain the entry ticket to the Extremely Dark Castle, which was a protective item to avoid the Crimson Erosion here.
This item was handled by Kaiser, but Su Xiao was almost certain that what Kaiser obtained was not the real ticket but a protective item similar to it.
After completing this step and gaining the qualification to enter the Extremely Dark Castle, the "Mission NPC" who provided the protective item would reveal that the most terrifying existence in the Extremely Dark Castle was the City Lord's Wife. Reaching the fifth floor where the City Lord's Wife resided was extremely difficult.
Then, this "Mission NPC" would guide the Contractor to find the Mechanical Maker. After meeting the Mechanical Maker and passing his test with Absolute Strength-level strength, they would obtain the method to temporarily open the Dark Area passage and the three-digit secret pattern combination to unlock the bedroom door lock plate.
After that, they would explore the Extremely Dark Castle, all the way to the Crimson Main Castle. After defeating the Crimson Guard Captain on the first floor and the Crimson Elder on the second floor, they could ally with the Rational Beast on the third floor to deal with the Crimson Eldest Son on the fourth floor.
When about to defeat the Crimson Eldest Son, he would reveal that he was not part of the Crimson Castle faction but was cooperating with the Eternal Light Watcher · Saunz, responsible for guarding the entrance to the bedroom. This was both to prevent anyone from releasing the City Lord's Wife and to prevent her from breaking through the bedroom's main door and charging out of the Dark Area.
At this point, the battle would subside. The Rational Beast and the Crimson Eldest Son would leave the area, leaving only the Contractor or Contractor Squad who had completed the series of missions to challenge the final boss, the City Lord's Wife, and trigger the final mission of the Crimson Castle: City Lord's Study.
Su Xiao's method of arriving here was much simpler. He accidentally opened the Dark Seal and fought his way through. He endured the Dark Area, used the Mysterious Eye to unlock the bedroom door, and never met the current City Lord of Black Iron City, the important NPC, or the Mechanical Maker.
Not only did he not meet these people in the mission process, but he also didn't even see the Rational Beast on the third floor of the Crimson Main Castle. Even if he had, it was more likely that he would have turned that boss into a treasure chest.
At this moment, in the back district of Black Iron City, inside a two-story mansion.
Thunder Mage · Aige sat grim-faced at a table. On the sofa nearby was the languid, seductive yet dangerous Witch · Liliya. Across from them was the gloomy-faced Nightmare Ghost · Kain. Indeed, these three unlucky top-tier Ninth Rank powerhouses had formed a team again.
Among them, Nightmare Ghost · Kain and Thunder Mage · Aige were here for a breakthrough trial. They naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity. Both had considerable hard strength, especially Thunder Mage · Aige. He was only slightly weaker than the Fierce Man, the Masked Woman, and Demon Scythe · Talid. An ordinary Ninth Rank limit powerhouse could be easily defeated by him with one hand.
That was until Thunder Mage · Aige met his ultimate nemesis. Not only did he have to disguise himself as an altar maiden once and be extorted for 200,000 Soul Coins, but in their first battle, he was suppressed to the point of doubting his life.
Even when facing a same-rank ultimate boss, Thunder Mage · Aige had never dealt such low damage with his ultimate move. He began to doubt himself.
Later, he learned from his temporary teammate, Witch · Liliya, that another teammate, Nightmare Ghost · Kain, had once dealt three-digit damage with an ultimate-level move. This made Thunder Mage · Aige feel much better and secretly thought he should team up with this guy more often.
Now, with the mission inexplicably terminated, the three members of the Magic Soul Squad were all confused. What was the "City Lord's Wife's Bedroom"? Where was that? Wasn't the current mission location in Black Iron City?
"This is too much! Can Beheading Night just steal others' missions like this? Are you all just going to take it lying down?"
A girl with fair skin emitting a faint fluorescence and short blue hair scattering light particles stood up angrily. She was the new member of the Magic Soul Squad, Ling Yao. Qualified to join the Magic Soul Squad, she naturally had considerable skill and strength.
Hearing Ling Yao's words, Aige, Liliya, and Kain all changed their expressions. Kain agreed, "Ling Yao is right. We can't let this slide."
Before Ling Yao could respond, Liliya spoke first, "Hmm, so who's going to handle this? We can't all four go, right? Four against one doesn't sound good."
"I heard~ Beheading Night is pretty strong..."
Before Ling Yao could finish, Kain said, "Given our strength and reputation, it's indeed not appropriate to fight four against one."
Ling Yao: "But..."
"How about this: we choose a representative to go and demand an explanation from Kukulin Bai Ye. What do you think?"
After saying this, Kain looked at Liliya and Aige. Liliya immediately agreed. Aige, who still had some conscience, hesitated but eventually went along with his two teammates.
"Actually, sometimes it's okay to back down..."
Ling Yao was starting to sense something was wrong. Her fluorescent blue hair stopped scattering light particles.
"No, you were right earlier, Ling Yao. That guy is too much. Among the four of us, we'll draw lots to see who goes to deal with him. Come on, draw."
Kain produced four lots. Sensing something was very wrong, Ling Yao quickly drew one first. She was really afraid that the other three would tacitly take the other three, leaving her with the sure-hit lot.
Ling Yao opened her draw result and her expression stiffened, but she concealed it well and asked, "What are your results?"
"Not me."
"Not me either, too bad~"
"Let me see, hmm, not me."
The last to open his draw, Kain showed his result, and then the three all looked at Ling Yao. This made Ling Yao's eye twitch violently.
"Ling Yao, you're not... scared, are you? If you're scared, it's okay to let it go."
"You... you're full of shit."
Ling Yao cursed. As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted it. But as a member of the Light Spirit Clan who had become a Contractor by chance, she had clearly fallen for the old schemer's provocation.
If the potential attributes of various races were quantified, humans had low initial values in everything but high growth and high upper limits. The Light Spirit Clan, on the other hand, had innate combat power at B to A level, but their wisdom growth wasn't as high as humans.
"The mission reward that belongs to me, I'll get it back. As for your shares..."
"They're all yours."
Kain immediately decided for the other two.
"It's a deal."
Ling Yao smiled, and with a few flashes of light, she was outside in the courtyard.
Kain, Aige, and Liliya stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching Ling Yao walk away cheerfully in the courtyard below. Aige, whose conscience was a bit pained, asked, "Isn't this a bit too much?"
"Heh, Aige, do you know who this little girl teamed up with to enter the Eternal Light World?"
"Who?"
"Father."
"Kain, you did a great job."
Thunder Mage · Aige's mood improved. He returned to the bar, poured himself a glass of wine, and drank alone.
By the window, Kain watched Ling Yao, who had already walked far away, and asked, "Liliya, what kind of ability does this Light Spirit little girl have? She doesn't seem like a frontal combat light type."
"Of course not. She's a Misfortune type."
"Oh? So she can cause some trouble for Bai Ye?"
Kain's eyes changed. After all, he had been beaten by Su Xiao several times, and nearly killed each time.
Liliya smiled without speaking. She couldn't imagine how hilarious it would be for a Misfortune type to secretly cast a misfortune curse on a Law Destroyer from the shadows.
...
In front of the City Lord's Wife's Bedroom door, Su Xiao steadied his breath. Holding his blade in his right hand, he pushed the door open wider with his left. With a clattering sound, crimson mist spread out from the bedroom.
This crimson mist had a faint bitter, fishy smell and completely blocked perception. The range of perception was compressed to be shorter than sight. Due to the surrounding crimson mist, visibility was less than three meters. Beyond that, everything became blurry due to the crimson.
Crunch~
Su Xiao stepped on a few bone fragments. Looking down, the ground was covered with large amounts of bones. Before the Mechanical Maker of Black Iron City sealed this place, it was a monster nest. The Crimson Guard Captain would lead Crimson Warriors to hunt adventurers or scavengers passing through the surrounding area.
Then they would be thrown from the top courtyard of the Crimson Main Castle into the bedroom where the City Lord's Wife resided. However, before being thrown in, the prey had the right to request a weapon. The City Lord's Wife, who had become cruel and violent due to the crimson, was no longer satisfied with killing unarmed prey.
But even with a weapon, no one thrown into the bedroom from above survived more than five minutes, including adventurers with Absolute Strength-level combat power.
Although the gap between Absolute Strength powerhouses was significant, those who had reached Absolute Strength were not to be underestimated. For example, Arcane Eternal Star seemed to have only three old-school Absolute Strength powerhouses: Dean Guya, Sefeiliya, and the Frost Wind King. But this was deliberately shown. How many new Absolute Strength powerhouses were secretly cultivated was known only to the spellcasters of Arcane Eternal Star.
Su Xiao had never doubted this. Dean Guya, Sefeiliya, and the Frost Wind King had been famous since the end of the Law Destruction Era. Over so many years, with the "Flourishing Star" and a Black Maple Tree, wouldn't Arcane Eternal Star have resources to cultivate new Absolute Strength powerhouses?
Moreover, as the overlord of the Void, the promotion of spellcasters here to Absolute Strength was so low-key that even mid- and low-level spellcasters didn't know. This was because Arcane Eternal Star already had three Absolute Strength powerhouses as their public face, so there was no need to show more strength. The benefits were twofold.
First, it wouldn't put too much pressure on other Void forces, preventing major factions like the Demon Race or the Feather Race from being forced to ally. Second, discerning people knew that after so many years, Arcane Eternal Star definitely had more than three Absolute Strength powerhouses. Not knowing how many Absolute Strength powerhouses this strongest overlord had was the most intimidating.
The unknown was always the most terrifying. It was this unknown foundation that prevented anyone in the Void from daring to challenge this faction that devoured natural elements, causing the Abyss to continuously spread.
Su Xiao guessed that within a month at most, or half a month at least, Arcane Eternal Star would have a previously low-key spellcaster publicly promoted to Absolute Strength. The reason was that Dean Guya had been killed by the Law Destroyer. Arcane Eternal Star would fill this position as soon as possible.
Putting this aside for now, Su Xiao continued forward through the crimson mist. The further he went, the more bones there were. These bones changed from completely shattered to being cut into several pieces. The neat cuts made him frown slightly.
Just then, a blood shadow darted out from the side crimson mist. This figure was half-human, half-beast, with two feet and eight arms. Two of the arms were used as forepaws for beast-like running and leaping, while the other six arms each held a three-meter-long, door-plate-wide flesh blade.
This flesh blade had a backward-curving edge, a 30-centimeter-wide gleaming sharp edge that looked extremely sharp. Behind it was the weighted part of flesh and bone. Because the flesh structure at the spine of the blade was tentacle-like, when this flesh blade was swung, these flesh tentacles trailed behind like tassels, forming a red cutting shadow. This actually had a cruel, dancing beauty.
Whoosh!
Space trembled from the excessive cutting force. This strike was too fast, and the surrounding crimson mist blocked perception. By the time the flesh blade's attack was detected, dodging was impossible. Only Dragon Shadow Flash could be used.
Su Xiao penetrated space...
Pfft!
Most of his body was cut off, along with his hand holding the blade, falling into the distance. Blood splattered on his cheek. The illusory surroundings abruptly stopped. This was not real but a predictive perception from "Grandmaster Instinct."
Everything around shattered like bubbles. Uninjured, Su Xiao's pupils gradually constricted. A piercing sound of air being cut came from his right side, indicating the City Lord's Wife's attack had already arrived. But this time, he already knew about this attack.
The City Lord's Wife's attack could ignore space penetration, a quite formidable trait. As the three-meter-long, door-plate-wide flesh blade approached, a blood soul normally used to enhance blood abilities suddenly compressed from a fist-sized sphere to a marble-sized one, brushing past the edge of the flesh blade. Before the flesh blade could strike Su Xiao, this blood soul hit the City Lord's Wife's head.
The blood soul's flight speed wasn't fast; it was mainly already there, and the City Lord's Wife collided with it.
[Time · Dominator (Passive): When you attack an enemy's weakness, it affects the time force field within a 10-meter diameter around you, causing a "Slowdown Phenomenon" lasting 0.2 to 0.5 seconds. Within this area, you are unaffected by the "Slowdown Phenomenon" and maintain normal speed to attack the enemy.
Tip: Each technique-type ability generates a "weakness" judgment, and the "weakness" derived from each technique-type is different. The weaknesses you can perceive are: Strength Weakness (corresponding to Blade Grandmaster), Body Weakness (corresponding to Melee Grandmaster), Breath Weakness (corresponding to Blood Spear Grandmaster).]
The "Slowdown Phenomenon" triggered by the Breath Weakness immediately slowed the City Lord's Wife. The six arms holding the flesh blade also slowed down.
As everything around slowed, Su Xiao sidestepped to avoid the attack. Although affected by the time slowdown, the City Lord's Wife's speed was still exaggerated. The next moment, she disappeared into the crimson mist on the right.
What made things more tricky was that the crimson mist spread around, making it impossible to track through perception. The Hunting Vision was also unsuitable for combat. This left only reaction speed.
After practical testing, Su Xiao found that the trigger probability of the "Grandmaster Instinct" ability was definitely not just 25%.
[Grandmaster Instinct (Passive): When an attack comes, you have a 25% chance to perceive the direction and trajectory of the attack 0.5 seconds in advance.]
The first attack in a battle had at least a 70% chance of triggering "Grandmaster Instinct." However, after this trigger, the probability of triggering it again in the same battle decreased to about 20% to 30%.
Even so, this ability was still powerful. Su Xiao looked around. This battle would end quickly, win or lose, because the City Lord's Wife he faced was a terrifying enemy capable of instantly killing Absolute Strength powerhouses. It wasn't that her strength exceeded Absolute Strength, but that her abilities were very singular and extreme.
The City Lord's Wife only had one move: the Assault Slash. All her other abilities were enhancements for this move. This meant her entire Absolute Strength-level power was concentrated on this one point, allowing her to achieve a terrifying attack that could kill Absolute Strength powerhouses instantly.
In other environments, the City Lord's Wife would be a dangerous but flawed enemy. However, this environment made her danger level skyrocket several tiers. The crimson mist blocking perception and limiting vision range made her, who only had the Assault Slash, the most terrifying hunter here.
Su Xiao's breath became calmer. His most serious problem now was that the City Lord's Wife's Assault Slash was too fast. By the time he saw her, it was too late to perfectly block with Dragon-Slaying Flash. Specifically, after seeing her, the remaining time wasn't even enough to adjust the blocking angle.
To perfectly block the City Lord's Wife's Assault Slash, he needed to trigger "Grandmaster Instinct" and then, when she just started the Assault Slash in the crimson mist, simultaneously perform a predictive perfect block.
Only by triggering "Grandmaster Instinct" could he have a chance to "Perfectly Block." After a successful "Perfect Block," he could counterattack and eventually kill the City Lord's Wife.
As for what to do if the Assault Slash didn't trigger "Grandmaster Instinct," he could only dodge. Su Xiao estimated that even though his "Immortal Body" had been upgraded once, facing an enemy like the City Lord's Wife who concentrated everything into one move, he could withstand at most three Assault Slashes.
Su Xiao quietly released the Blade Demon Spirit. Suddenly, a chilling sensation arose from his left rear. Don't think this was perception prediction; no, it was the City Lord's Wife's flesh blade already 5 centimeters from the left rear of his neck.
Clang!
Su Xiao's head was severed. As it flew up, it turned into the black smoke of the Blade Demon Spirit. Having successfully swapped positions with the demon spirit, Su Xiao was now a few meters away, in a half-squatting position.
Whoosh~
The sound of the Assault Slash came again. Su Xiao was about to swap positions with the demon spirit but suddenly stopped. The next moment, the City Lord's Wife passed by as a blood shadow he couldn't even see clearly. One Assault Slash cut off the demon spirit's head. This time, the City Lord's Wife's target was directly the demon spirit.
It wasn't that the City Lord's Wife had lost her reason due to the crimson erosion. On the contrary, she first used the sharp sound of the slash to trigger Su Xiao's sense of danger, pretending to attack him, but actually aimed at the demon spirit.
In this situation, if Su Xiao swapped positions with the demon spirit, he would be severely injured.
Zzzt~
Su Xiao pulled on the Spirit Shadow Threads he had set up around him. Since perception wasn't working, he would set up Spirit Shadow Threads. But as soon as he set them up, a blood-like red liquid condensed on them. It didn't erode the threads, but the crimson prevented them from transmitting feedback.
Clang!
When the sharpness of the Assault Slash came, don't be glad to hear this sound. By the time you heard it, the slash had already passed. This was a slash many times faster than sound.
The demon spirit, cut diagonally in two, reformed. Su Xiao again swapped positions with it to dodge the City Lord's Wife's Assault Slash.
A large amount of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy gathered on his left index finger, at least tens of thousands of points, causing the energy to appear as a blue liquid on his finger. He used this finger to tap the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Ding!
The blade vibrated, and layers of sound waves mixed with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy spread. The crimson mist indeed blocked perception, but it absolutely couldn't block Su Xiao's sensing of his own energy.
As the sound waves spread, Su Xiao sensed that the sound waves 60 meters to his right were blocked by something during their spread. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that the wall to his right was at least 100 meters away. Right there.
'Perfect Block!'
Boom!!!
A loud explosion caused the crimson mist, which had merged with space, to disperse slightly. Dragon-Slaying Flash successfully blocked the City Lord's Wife's flesh blade, sparks flying everywhere.
With such momentum completely blocked, the City Lord's Wife stumbled and fell forward. Of the six arms holding the flesh blade, five released it. Only one remained, and if it weren't fused with the flesh blade, the weapon would have been thrown away.
Although his right arm was numb, Su Xiao immediately stepped forward and delivered a straight kick with 30% of his strength. He did this to avoid kicking the enemy into the crimson mist. 30% strength was enough to create a weakness.
Bang!
The City Lord's Wife, who was about to force herself up, was kicked into a weakness.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
One slash passed, and a small part of the City Lord's Wife's head was cut off.
'Extreme Blade: World.'
The Extreme Blade Domain appeared. After a sharp slashing sound, the City Lord's Wife was covered in blood marks, with only two of her six arms remaining.
'Super: Blood Smoke Cannon.'
A blood smoke cannon enhanced by two blood souls blasted the City Lord's Wife's head. She screamed and retreated.
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
Clang!
The sound of the wind slash was especially crisp. The City Lord's Wife's body shattered. Amid the splattering crimson, a humanoid figure with long crimson hair grabbed the flesh blade with one hand and disappeared into the crimson mist behind. This was the City Lord's Wife's true body. She had entered the second phase.
Everything around slowed down. "Grandmaster Instinct" had triggered. The scene within the next 0.5 seconds flashed through Su Xiao's mind. His eyes narrowed slightly because he predicted that his left arm would be cut off by the Assault Slash.
Su Xiao immediately swapped positions with the demon spirit. With a boom, the City Lord's Wife, moving so fast she was completely invisible, passed by with an Assault Slash, cutting the demon spirit in two. Did it end there? No, in this state, she would immediately follow up with a second Assault Slash.
Clang!
As the slash came from behind, Su Xiao presciently bent down. The decapitating Assault Slash missed.
Thinking it was just a double Assault Slash? No. Without giving even 0.01 seconds of breathing room, the City Lord's Wife charged forward again.
Su Xiao's gaze focused ahead. A blood soul, which he had already set up there and contracted to the size of a dust particle, suddenly stopped contracting and returned to its original fist size. The City Lord's Wife, in full Assault Slash, collided with it.
The Breath Weakness triggered "Time Slowdown." As everything around slowed, Su Xiao made a simple forward slash. Then the City Lord's Wife in her Assault Slash brushed past him.
This time, her speed into the crimson mist noticeably slowed, gradually becoming slower and slower, until she finally dragged the disproportionately large flesh blade forward slowly. In the end, this headless corpse fell.
After fighting the City Lord's Wife to the end, Su Xiao finally understood her weakness and the method to defeat her: he must not retreat. He had to face her attacks head-on to kill this formidable enemy.
[Tip: You have killed the City Lord's Wife.]
[You have obtained 2580 Precipitated Glass.]
[You have obtained 62,800 World Reputation.]
[You have obtained the Crimson Chest: Crimson Lady (Upon opening, there is a chance to obtain unique crimson items from this area, or rewards equivalent to 67% of an Immortal Chest).]
...
[You have completed the final mission of this area.]
[Checking...]
[Check complete. You have obtained the mission reward: Crimson Amplifier.]
[Crimson Amplifier]
Origin: Eternal Light World · Crimson Castle.
Quality: Overlord Rank.
Category: Enhancement Item / One-time Consumable.
Effect: Can be used on Overlord Equipment with a compatibility exceeding 70%. After use, this Overlord Equipment can be enhanced through Overlord Soul.
Rating: 4500 points (Overlord equipment rating is 1 to 6000 points).
Introduction: Crimson power may be far beyond imagination.
Price: 7560 Soul Coins.
...
This item was quite good. After checking, Su Xiao found that its compatibility with [Blood Feather] was 93%, while with the other two Overlord equipment it was less than 10%. If he obtained an Overlord Soul later, he could consider using this item on [Blood Feather] to turn it into an enhanceable Overlord equipment.
This mission reward was pretty decent. After all, he hadn't completed many mission rings. Getting this reward was an unexpected gain.
Su Xiao came to the inner part of the bedroom. After searching for a while, he finally found the elevator to the sixth floor. As the elevator slowly moved, he checked his current Precipitated Glass, totaling 4787 pieces, enough to buy the [Primordial Fruit]. This trip to the Crimson Castle was extremely worthwhile. Not only had he mastered the power after advancing to Absolute Strength, but he also had other generous gains.
This made him wonder if he should master another high-level passive. Not to mention anything else, high-level passives were really strong. If he also applied the high-level passive "Technique Sublimation: Supreme Blade" to Melee Grandmaster and Blood Spear Grandmaster, although developing three technique grandmasters would consume a lot, the corresponding improvement in strength would be significant.
The elevator stopped. The scene before him was an entire floor of a laboratory. Crimson liquid in containers soaked various creatures from this world. The mechanical equipment in the center was covered with a layer of crimson crystals.
It seemed that besides the situation described by the Soul Maid, there was a second version of the story of the City Lord and his wife. Thinking about it, the Soul Maid was just a maid in this castle before her death. She didn't even have the qualifications to enter this Crimson Inner Castle, let alone come to the sixth floor, which even the Crimson Guard Captain couldn't access.
Su Xiao arrived at the innermost City Lord's Study. Pushing open the door, he found the layout here wasn't complicated. The surroundings were all bookshelves against the walls, along with a desk. Sitting on the chair in front of the desk was a dried corpse. Trying to detect information, the result was that this was the City Lord's eldest son.
A notebook lay quietly on the desk. Su Xiao picked it up and opened the first page to read:
'Crimson is a power that can be mastered. I will definitely prove it to my father...'
By flipping through the notebook, Su Xiao learned what had happened here. It wasn't just the Dark Blood City Lord who was researching how to open the Abyss Passage, but also his eldest son. As the saying goes, "Like father, like son." These two father and son were the protectors of the entire town.
Unfortunately, everything changed when they first attempted to open the Abyss Hole. Someone like the Dark Blood City Lord, who had once been the City Lord of Black Iron City, couldn't possibly open such a large Abyss Hole at once. The real situation was that when they first opened the Abyss Hole, although crimson surged out, the Dark Blood City Lord immediately sealed it.
This failure didn't discourage the Dark Blood City Lord, but it dealt a heavy blow to his eldest son. After comforting his son, the Dark Blood City Lord immediately went out to find an old friend to get another batch of resources, preparing to open the Abyss Hole using other methods.
But when the Dark Blood City Lord returned a few months later, he found his wife hesitant in her speech. At first, the Dark Blood City Lord was stunned. He couldn't believe his wife would betray him. When he entered the sixth floor of the main castle and saw it had been transformed into a laboratory, along with the items placed inside, he knew his wife wasn't the problem. The problem was his eldest son, whom he had always been proud of.
Just as the Dark Blood City Lord hurried to the door of the secret ritual room, crimson shattered the door and rushed toward him. The subsequent story was as the Soul Maid had said. The Dark Blood City Lord desperately protected his wife. Taking this opportunity, the City Lord's Wife activated the castle's defensive rituals.
Unfortunately, the City Lord's Wife mutated too quickly. The Dark Blood City Lord could only turn around and rush to the fifth floor, taking his youngest son, who hadn't been eroded by the crimson, and breaking through the wall of the fifth floor to leap into the courtyard.
In the courtyard, a large number of guards had mutated into Crimson Warriors. Severely eroded by the crimson, the Dark Blood City Lord held off over a thousand Crimson Warriors. He told his second son, who had mutated but not lost his reason, to take his younger brother and escape. He stayed behind to cover their retreat. In the end, the Dark Blood City Lord, who alone held off the Crimson Guard Captain, Crimson Elder, Crimson Mad Beast, Dark Demon, and over a thousand elite Crimson Warriors, died in the courtyard.
Su Xiao took out the [Greed Bead]. A strange scene occurred. The [Greed Bead] detected treasures here, but something was sealing them, causing the bead to condense dark gold light particles very slowly. It would take at least ten minutes to gather enough to track the treasure's location.
Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry. He checked his current World Reputation, a full 116,140 points. This made him want to open a batch of Title Chests. With so much reputation, if he could get some two-star titles, it would be very profitable.
[You have exchanged 116,140 Title Chests.]
[Title Chest: Upon opening, you can obtain ★ to ★★★★★★★★★ titles.]
[Titles obtained from this chest have a 15% chance of being tradable titles (this is an additional correction benefit due to the danger level of this world).]
[Due to the unique function of this world's World Communication Platform, the results of your Title Chest openings will be announced on the World Communication Platform to facilitate title trading and exchange.]
[For this announcement, you have chosen to remain anonymous.]
[You have opened 116,140 Title Chests.]
...
Almost simultaneously, within the World Communication Platform.
[Title Information: Anonymous has obtained 116,140 one-star attribute-less titles.]
Moon Witch (Holy Light Paradise): "?"
Xiao Ge (Sanctuary Paradise): "???"
Wind Wolf (Apocalypse Paradise): "This is... eye-opening."
Xi'er (Reincarnation Paradise): "Strange knowledge has increased."
Thunder Mage · Aige (Apocalypse Paradise): "Can this be tolerated? Shouldn't we initiate a re-check with the Void Tree? This would require negative several thousand Void Tree Reputation to get such a result."
Fierce Man (Reincarnation Paradise): "I tell you, don't slander me. Although I have over 4000 negative Void Tree Reputation, I occasionally get three-star titles."
...
Su Xiao studied for a moment and found that this title information couldn't be turned off. Although all the titles he opened were one-star, it brought him one step closer to upgrading his two main titles. He looked at the dark gold energy surging in the [Greed Bead]. It was already enough and was converging toward the bookshelf on the right.
After observing for a moment, Su Xiao found that this was a ritual. Fortunately, he hadn't directly moved things here. If he had triggered this ritual, the items in the code cabinet would be teleported away.
Su Xiao placed one hand on it. A crystal layer spread, first sealing the ritual above. Then he set up a peeling ritual on the crystal layer's surface and slowly lifted the crystal layer, peeling off the intact trigger-type ritual.
Pushing the bookshelf to both sides, the door of the code cabinet on the wall appeared. After adjusting the Mysterious Eye, he attached it to the door. He formed a crystal chair and sat down to wait. A few minutes later.
Click~
A pleasant crisp sound. The lock was successfully opened. Su Xiao opened the code cabinet door. Although the items inside weren't many, two "Primordial Fragments" already made him feel pleased.
Then, a soul container that, at a glance, was clearly a supreme treasure came into view. Although the container's structure was simple, it was definitely crafted by a top-tier master craftsman.
After Su Xiao examined the soul container for a moment, the blue soul aura inside, which felt both familiar and unfamiliar, made his expression increasingly solemn.
Bang!
Su Xiao closed the code cabinet door, his eyes narrowing slightly. This time, he had discovered something extraordinary.